what is waxy fat

I have noticed that some fat has a more waxy texture. I have found this in the body cavity of lamb, on beef ribs, and especially on beef heart. In a bucket of beef tallow (that was liquid and allowed to solidify in the bucket) I have found that the fat near the top is waxier than the fat at the bottom, so I suspect this waxy fat may have sorted itself out by different density or freezing point.

What is the chemical property that makes it waxy? What is the biological reason for (some kinds of?) animals to accumulate it in some areas of the body? Is it normal to have trouble digesting it? Are there any other health implications to eating it?

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle ingredients, tallow is the best calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is absorbed somewhat but not entirely. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle ingredients, tallow is the only good calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle waxes, tallow is the only good calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the candle waxes, tallow is the only good calorie sources. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Regarding candle eating, I just learned there's a name for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. (Well, it really means "wax eating.") When it comes to candle wax, tallow is a great energy source (it's pemmican without the meat). Stearin are absorbed somewhat (that particular triglyceride is rare in nature and our enzymes don't break it apart very well). Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, just pass on through. (However there's at least one bird that has microflora that digest beeswax. I wonder if some people have similar microflora.)

Thanks for the thanks, Paul. :) Your comment made me curious, so I entered "ate candles" and "eating candles" into Google Book Search. Lo and behold, you're right, lots of books popped up with accounts of hungry people who ate candles. For example, in a 19th century British prison, prisoners used to mix their gruel or cocoa with a candle, making the wax melt, then they ate the whole thing.

Thanks for the thanks, Paul. :) Your comment made me curious, so I entered "ate candles" and "eating candles" into Google Book Search. Lo and behold, you're right, lots of books popped up with accounts of hungry people who had to eat candles. For example, in a 19th century British prison, prisoners used to mix their gruel or cocoa with a candle, making the wax melt, then they ate the whole thing.

Right, of course, no commercial candles for me. But it's kind of cool to think that traditionally made candles could be edible. I wonder if there are stories of people eating candles during famine or the siege of a city, like there are stories about people eating wallpaper, etc. Thanks for all your interesting posts and comments.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would be wary of eating commercial candles unless the manufactuer says they are edible. I would guess that most commercial candles have additional chemicals in them that are unsafe to eat, and that when manufacturers put those edible ingredients in their candles, they probably use non-food-grade versions which could contain harmful contaminants.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would guess that most commercial candles have additional chemicals in them that are unsafe to eat. And when manufacturers put those edible ingredients in their candles, they probably use non-food-grade versions which could contain harmful contaminants.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would guess that most commercial candles, even those which are made from those three ingredients, contain additional chemicals that aren't safe to eat. And when those edible ingredients are used in commercial candles, food-grade versions probably aren't used.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I think probably most commercial candles aren't made from food-grade ingredients. And I would guess that they contain additional chemicals that aren't safe to eat.

Lots of substances that are used to make candle wax are edible -- stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules), beeswax, paraffin, etc. -- so if you buy food-grade versions of those things, you could make edible candles. But I think probably most commercial candles are made from a mixture of chemicals to control the burn rate, etc., and they might be toxic.

If you can find candles that are made from 100% stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) then theoretically yeah, you could. Beeswax is another edible ingredient used for candle wax. But there are three problems: (1) nowadays most candles include other stuff like paraffin, etc. (2) the stearin used in candles probably isn't food grade so it might contain toxins; (3) humans don't digest stearin very well. This last point is relevant to jon's original question; there are a bunch of papers about digestion of stearic acid in the biomedical literature.

It looks that way. In cattle, at least. I based this answer on just that one study. It's all I could find. Maybe somebody else can find others. It seems like the kind of thing Cordain is interested in -- maybe he has published references somewhere.

It looks that way. In cattle, at least. I based this answer on just that one study. It's all I could find. Maybe somebody else can find others. It seems like the kind of thing Cordain is interested in -- maybe he has published references somewhere.

Right, of course, no commercial candles for me. But it's kind of cool to think that traditionally made candles could be edible. I wonder if there are stories of people eating candles during famine or the siege of a city, like there are stories about people eating wallpaper, etc. Thanks for all your interesting posts and comments.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would guess that most commercial candles have additional chemicals in them that are unsafe to eat. And when manufacturers put those edible ingredients in their candles, they probably use non-food-grade versions which could contain harmful contaminants.

If you can find candles that are made from 100% stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) then theoretically yeah, you could. Beeswax is another edible ingredient used for candle wax. But there are three problems: (1) nowadays most candles include other stuff like paraffin, etc. (2) the stearin used in candles probably isn't food grade so it might contain toxins; (3) humans don't digest stearin very well. This last point is relevant to jon's original question; there are a bunch of papers about digestion of stearic acid in the biomedical literature.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle waxes, tallow is the only good calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the candle waxes, tallow is the only good calorie sources. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would guess that most commercial candles, even those which are made from those three ingredients, contain additional chemicals that aren't safe to eat. And when those edible ingredients are used in commercial candles, food-grade versions probably aren't used.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I think probably most commercial candles aren't made from food-grade ingredients. And I would guess that they contain additional chemicals that aren't safe to eat.

Regarding candle eating, I just learned there's a name for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. (Well, it really means "wax eating.") When it comes to candle wax, tallow is a great energy source (it's pemmican without the meat). Stearin are absorbed somewhat (that particular triglyceride is rare in nature and our enzymes don't break it apart very well). Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, just pass on through. (However there's at least one bird that has microflora that digest beeswax. I wonder if some people have similar microflora.)

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle ingredients, tallow is the only good calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is poorly absorbed because it's rare in nature and our enzymes don't break that particular triglyceride apart very well. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

You could certainly make edible candles. You could make them from food-grade stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules) or beeswax or paraffin or other types of edible wax. All of those things are used to make candles. But I would be wary of eating commercial candles unless the manufactuer says they are edible. I would guess that most commercial candles have additional chemicals in them that are unsafe to eat, and that when manufacturers put those edible ingredients in their candles, they probably use non-food-grade versions which could contain harmful contaminants.

Regarding wax eating, I just learned there's a word for it: cerophagy. Try that on your friends next time you play Scrabble. :) Of the main candle ingredients, tallow is the best calorie source. It's pemmican without the meat. Stearin is absorbed somewhat but not entirely. Beeswax and paraffin, like Paul said, are reported to pass through unchanged. However there's a bird with gut flora that digest beeswax and I wonder if gut flora with similar properties might exist in some humans also.

Lots of substances that are used to make candle wax are edible -- stearin (the triglyceride that contains three stearic acid molecules), beeswax, paraffin, etc. -- so if you buy food-grade versions of those things, you could make edible candles. But I think probably most commercial candles are made from a mixture of chemicals to control the burn rate, etc., and they might be toxic.

Thanks for the thanks, Paul. :) Your comment made me curious, so I entered "ate candles" and "eating candles" into Google Book Search. Lo and behold, you're right, lots of books popped up with accounts of hungry people who had to eat candles. For example, in a 19th century British prison, prisoners used to mix their gruel or cocoa with a candle, making the wax melt, then they ate the whole thing.

Thanks for the thanks, Paul. :) Your comment made me curious, so I entered "ate candles" and "eating candles" into Google Book Search. Lo and behold, you're right, lots of books popped up with accounts of hungry people who ate candles. For example, in a 19th century British prison, prisoners used to mix their gruel or cocoa with a candle, making the wax melt, then they ate the whole thing.

It's suet, the harder fat around the abdominal organs. I'm not sure why it has a different texture. It might be more saturated.

This thread leads me to believe other people also have a harder time digesting it. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I remember some folks on the zero-carb forum reporting heartburn from pemmican made with suet, which is a shame, since it stays hard better.

Sounds like you are talking about cholesterol which is a waxy fat. I personally have no issues consuming cholesterol. My body digests it easily just as it digests other fats. Most of the cholesterol in the body is actually created by the body itself so, despite what ill informed doctors like to say, actual dietary cholesterol intake has only a minor influence on overall body cholesterol levels. Many healthful foods, like organ meats, are high in cholesterol.